Type-writing machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet, 1. J. I. MGLAUG'HLIN.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. Np. 421,836. Patented Feb. 18, I890.

INVENTEIFII N, wzrzns WW Washingmn. n. c

(No Model) I 2 Sheets-sheet 2. V J. F. MOLAUG'HLIN.

. TYPE WRITING-MACHINE.

No. 421,836. Patented Feb. 18, '1890.

/7//// mmn ATE NT OFFICE.

JAMES F. MoLAUGI-ILIN, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,836, dated February18, 189 0.

8 Application filed September 19, 1888. Serial No. 285,819. (No model.)

To aZZ whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. MOLAUGH- LIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have in-.

vented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Nriting Machines, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, which willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates to improvements in electrical type-writers, inwhich a traveling carriage supporting the impression-cylinder is fedforward the space of one letter'after each imprint of a type upon thepaper, or

upon the depression of a specially-provided letter-spacing key; and itsspecial object is to provide novel means for causing the carriage to beautomatically returned to its starting-point when the end of a line ofprinting or writing has been reached.

In an application filed by me June '3, 1888, Serial No. 276,151, and inanother application filed September 4, 1888, Serial No. 285,086, I haveshown and described automatic reverse movements for the carriage of anelectrical type-writer, and the invention herein shown and described isan improvement upon the same, the specific points of novelty of whichwill clearly appear from the following detailed description, withreference to the ac companying drawings, which form a part thereof, andin which- Figure 1 is an elevation of the rear of the machine, showingthe spacing and reverse mechanisms supported in their relativepositions. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view on the line x 00, Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is an elevation of the right-hand end of the carriage. Fig. 4 isa transverse sectional view through the 'rear part of the carriage,showing the letterspacing wheels in elevation. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview looking at the rear part of the rack-bar frame with itssupporting-brackets, showing also the actuating-spring, the sliding bar,and the lever for actuating the same; all arranged in their relativepositions. Fig.

' 6 is a front elevation of the right-hand end of the frame of thecarriage, showing the in- 'clined plane on the front'sliding bar and theanti-friction roller of the line-spacing pa w1 lever which ridesthereon. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one end of the rear slidingactuating-1e ver and guide-bracket. a detail view of one end of the rearsliding .bar, showing the cam-notch in the same and the cam-stud uponthe rack-bar frame.

Like'numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts-in all thefigures of the drawings. 1

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, the base plate or platform 1is there shown. upon legs 2 2, an d two standards 3 3, mounted upon therear end of the platform, have hinged to their upper ends .brackets i 4,to the free ends of whichthe guide-bar 5 is secured by screws, asindicated,or in any other convenient manner. The brackets 4 4 are eachformed with an angular recess 6, into which the upper ends of thestandards 3 3 are received, and are connected with the same by pivotalpins 6 The arrangement is such, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2,that one end of the recess 6 serves as a limit of movement of thebracketse din one direct-ion, and that the other end of the recess,which is at right angles to the first, serves as a stop to the movementof the bracket 4 in the other direction.

Upon the guide-bar 5 the carriage is sup- 25, of'which three pairs areshown, so spaced and distributed that two pairs at a time will bear uponand embrace the guide-bar,whereby the carriage may be raised forinspection of the work done, as is the common practice in machines ofthis character, when it will turn with the guide-bar and the brackets 4at about the pivotal pins 6 6'. Another anti-friction roller, mountedupon the front bar of the carriage-frame and about the middle of thesame, rides upon the front bar of the supported by means ofanti-friction rollers 25'.

lar box, and the other part '7 extending above the platform, is recessedat 8, and has there mounted upon a stud 9 aratchet-wheel 10 and agear-wheel 11. These two wheels are secured together by screws, asindicated in Fig. 1, but are both loose upon the stud 9, for a purposewhich will presently appear.

In the box-shaped portion 7 of frame 7 is mounted an electro magnet 12,and to a bracket 13 is pivoted the letter-spacin g pawllever 14,carrying an armature 15 in operative relation to the electro-magnet andthe gravitypawl 16, which is in engagement with the ratchet 10. To theupper free end of the pawllever is secured a stop-tooth 17, which is inposition to engage one of the teeth of gearwheel 11, when the pawl-leveris actuated by the electro-magnet, and since the number of teeth in thegear-wheel is equal to the number of teeth in the ratchet-wheel it isclear that when the pawl-lever is actuated by the electro-magnet and theratchet is turned by the gravity-pawl 16, the stop-tooth 17 will limitthe rotation of the ratchet to one tooth.

From the lower rear portion of the pawllever 1 1 extends a small rod 18,upon which a weight 19 is adjustable, and which serves to withdraw thearmature pawl-lever to its normal position when the electro-magnet is(lo-energized. The screw 20, passing through and adjustable in bracket21, extending from frame 7, serves as a back stop of the armaturepawl-lever 14.

In the normal operation of my machine the armature pawl-lever 14: isactuated after each imprint upon thepaper, and this is done eitherelectaro-magnetically, as indicated, or mechanically, i n a mannerclearly set forth in my afore said application Serial No. 276,151; butfor the purposes of my present invention it is of no consequence by Whatagency the pawl-lever is actuated, so long as it is understood that itwill be actuated after each printing operation. To one of the standards3, which for this purpose is provided with a bracket 22, as shown inFig. 2, is j ournaled a springbarrel 23, and one end of the spiralspring 2% in said barrel is secured to the shaft 25, which passesthrough its center, and the other end of the same is secured to the bodyof the barrel, as is common in structures of this kind. Thisspring-barrel is grooved upon its outer periphery, as shown in Fig. 2,and a cord 26, extending from a lug 27, secured to the rear bar 28 ofthe carriage, is secured at its other end to the circumference of thebarrel within the groove. Then the barrel is grasped by one hand andheld stationary, and. the shaft is turned by the application of a key toits projecting square end 29 by the other hand, the spring in the barrelmay be put under tension, and the shaft is then fixed in position by apin 80, which is inserted through a transverse hole in the bearingportion of standard 3, and a similar hole in the shaft, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2.

The rack-bar 31, mounted upon the car ria e in a manner which willhereinafter be described, normally engages the teeth of-,

gear-wheel 11, and when the latter is rotated step by step by the actionof pawl'lever 1.4, or in any other desired manner, the carriage is fedforward in the direction marked by an arrow in Fig. 1, and thespring-barrel is thereby rotated, and the spring will be further woundup as the carriage advances toward the end of a line of printing. Thus,as the carriage is fed forward, power is stored in the spring of barrel23, which, when permitted, is sufficient to return the carriage to itsstarting: point. A gravity check-pawl 32, pivoted to a bracket 33, whichextends laterally from the upper end of frame 7, is used to prevent apartial return movement of the carriage during the outward stroke of thepawl-lever.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that so long as therack-bar 31. is in engagement with the teeth of the gear-wheel 1.1

the carriage cannot be returned to its start ing-point by the reactionof the spring in barrel 23, for the reason that the gravity check-pawl32 prevents effectively an inverse rotation of the gear-wheel. In order,therefore, to enable the spring-barrel to reverse the carriage, therack-bar must be moved out of engagement with the gearwheel at theproper moment, and this is offected by the following switch apparatus:Secured to the under side of the side bars 3t 35 of the carriage andnear the rear ends thereof are two brackets 36 36, having at their innerends journal-bearings 37, and at their outer ends, in the upper surfacethere of, rectangular notches 38. (Most clearly shown in Fig. 7.) \Vhenthese brackets are in place, secured to the under sides of the sidebars, the notches 38 form rectangular slots, through which a sliding bar39, which hereinafter will be called the rear sliding bar, is movable.Arectangularframe, com-l posed of the rack-bar 31, side bars 40 10, androd 11, is pivoted between brackets 36 iii the journal-bearings 37thereof by projecting portions of rod 4.1, so that the rack-bar constitutes an integral element of the pivoted rack-bar frame 31 4O 40 41,and an angular stay-rod 4.2,seeured to the middle of the rack bar and tothe side bars 10 40, respectively, gives rigidity to this structure. Aflat spring -13,wound upon a screw-rod 14: (the purpose of which willhereinafter be indicated) and under the frame-rod 11, extends with itsfree end over the upper edge of the raclebar, and a notch at the end ofsaid spring embraces the screw 45, which secures the stay-rod 42 to themiddle of the rack-bar. The tendency of the spring 43 is to raise therack-bar, and if not obstructed it would do so by pressing upwardly uponthe under side of the head of screw 45. Each side bar 4.0 of thorack-bar frame has formed upon it, upon its upper surface or securedthereto, an upwardlyprojecting tooth 4.6, which is beveled so as to forman inclined plane, having its lowest point in the plane of the uppersurface of the side bar40 and its highest point in a'knife-edge. Ineffect the projecting teeth 46 46 are triangular'prisms, and the rearsliding bar 39 normally rests upon the upper knife-edges of theseprisms, or, rather, these prisms bear upon the lower surface of bar 39by the action of the spring 43. In this condition of the rack-bar frame,in which the rack-bar has the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig.3, the teeth of the gearwheel 11 are engaged by the rack-bar. In thesliding bar 39, near each end thereof, is

produced a slot 47, one end of which is vertical,while the other isinclined, as indicated at 48 in Figs. 5 and 8, and the inclination'48corresponds to the inclinations of one of the sides of the prismaticprojections 46. The two slots 47 47 are at such distance apart that theywill at the same time engage the prisms 46 when the sliding bar 39 ismoved to one side, and when this takes place it is clear that the spring43 will turn the rackbar frame so as to lift the rear end of the sameand force the prisms 46 46 into the slots 47 47 whereby the rack-bar israised into the position indicated in solid lines in Fig. 3, out ofengagement with the gear-wheel 11, and in this position of the rack-barthe spring-barrel may be turned by the spring housed therein to reversethe movement of the carriage, as will now be clearly understood.

In order to again engage the rack-bar with the gearwheel, the rearsliding bar must be moved in a direction opposite to that in which itwas moved to disengage the rackbar. If this is done, by meanshereinafter described, the inclined sides 48 of notches 47 act as camsupon the inclined sides of the prismatic projections or studs 46, andthe rack-bar frame is forced to move downwardly about its pivots untilthe knife-edges again bear upon the smooth under surface of sliding bar39. This brings the rack-bar frame with the rack-bar again into theposition indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus again engaging theteeth of the gear-wheel. The sliding movement of the rear sliding bar 39thus controls the engagement and disengagement of the rack with thegear-wheelor, in other words, it creates the condition under which thecarriage may be fed forward step I by step to produce the spaces betweenthe successive letters, and also the condition under which thecarriagemay be reversed by the action of the spring-barrel. The sliding movementof bar 39 in the direction to disengage the rack-bar is caused by theletterspacing movement of the carriage when the predetermined end of aline of writing is reached, and the movement of bar 39 in the directionto engage the rack-bar is caused by the linespacing mechanism when thecarriage arrives at the end of its reverse movement-4'. a, at thebeginning of a new line of writing or printing.

These movements are gaged and produced in substantially the same mannerand by substantially the same mechanism as are fully shown and describedin my aforesaid applications, and since the mechanism used for thatpurpose is only an incidental part of my present invention anapproximate description of the same will be suificient. i

A screwn'od 49, having a screw-thread or, rather, eye-pitch is journaledin bearings 50 51, fixed upon sliding bar 39. One of these bearings-5Ois near the middle of bar 39, and

the other 51 is at the right-hand end of the same, this being theleft-hand end of said bar, as represented in Figs. 1 and 5, in which themachine is represented as seen from the back.

A casting 52 is shaped with a central boss, (most clearly shown in Fig.4,) and with a downwardlyextending tail-piece 53. An arm 54, extendingupwardly from the central boss, is provided with a pointer 55, and witha pin 56, projecting from a horizontal extension of arm .54. alarm-bell57 ordinarily used in machines of this character for indicating theapproach of a line of writing. A rectangular slot formed in the centralboss of the casting receives the sliding bar 39, and the screw-threadedhole 58 receives the screw-rod 49, so that when the latter is turned bymeans of the milled head 59 the casting will be moved along and upon thesliding bar to the desired position, in which it may be fixed by theset-screw 60. (Shown in Figs. 1 and 5.)

As will be seen by reference to Figs.4 .and 5, the upper extension ofcasting 52, to which pin 56 is secured, forms one prong of the fork, ofwhich the pointer 55 is the other prong,

This pin is destined to actuate they and by reference to Fig. 4 it. willbe seen that these prongs embrace a scale-bar 61, so that the pointerwill indicate the position to which the casting has been adjusted.

W'hen by the ordinary operation of the ma- IIO chine the carriageismoved forward step by tudinally with relation to the carriage, or,rather, the carriage will be shifted with rela tion to bar 39 until theprismatic projections 46 46 upon the side bars40 40 of the rack-barframe willrise into the slots 47 47, as hereinbefore described, wherebythe rack-bar assumes the position indicated in solid lines in Fig. 3,andis out-of engagement with the gearwheel 11, thus allowing thespring-barrel to of a newline of printing. \Vhen the carriage arrives inthis position, it is necessary that the rack-bar be again thrown intogear with the gear-wheel, and this is accomplished, as stated above, bythe line-feed mechanism, which will be here described with suflicientaccuracy to understand its co-operation with the reversemovementmechanism which forms the subject of my present invention.

To one end of the impression-cylinder 03 is secured a gear-wheel 6%,both of which are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. A lever 65, pivotedupon the shaft of the cylinder is provided with a gravity-pawl 66, thelower end of which only is visible in Fi 3, the upper end, which engagesthe teeth of the gearwheel 64:,being hidden from View. The free weightedend of lever (35 is provided with an anti-friction roller 67, whichbears upon the upper edge of a sliding bar 68, placed behind the frontbar 69 of the carriage. The greater part of this sliding bar (58, whichwill hereinafter be called the front sliding bar, as distinguished fromthe rear sliding bar 39, is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. (3, and,as will be seen by reference to the drawings, one end of it is expandedto form an inclined plane 7 O, which is in effect a continuation of theupper straight edge of the main body of the bar. The other end of bar(38 is shaped cylindrically, as indicated at 71, and this cylindricalportion is guided in a sleeve 7 2, and is acted upon by a helical spring73, which, when expanded, maintains the bar 68 in the position indicatedin the drawings i. 8., with the inclined plane 70 just beyond theantifriction roller 67. The bar 68 is also guided and is limited in itsmovements by a screwpin 74, projecting from its side into a slot in thefront bar 69 of the carriage. From about the middle of bar 68 projects abracket 76 over the front bar 69 and down within a short distance fromthe upper edge of the front bar 77 of the supporting-frame of themachine. In this front bar 77 a series of holes 7 8 78 are provided, andapin 79 maybe inserted in and withdrawn from either of these holes. Ifthe pin 7 9 is inserted, as shown, and if the carriage is reversed inthe manner hereinbefore described, the bracket 7 6 will strike the pin,whereby bar 68will be stopped, while the carriage continues its reversemovement. The carriage is thus shifted with relation to bar 68, therebycompressing the helical spring 7 3, and causing the roller (37 to rideup the inclined plane 7 0, whereby the pawl-lever 65 is raised to theposit-ion indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. A partial rotation isthus given to the impression-cylinder, and the paper is fed forward fora new line between the impression-eylinder and the feed-roller 80. Theupward movement of the line-feeding pawl-lever 65 is utilized forreturning the rear sliding bar 39 and thereby the rack-bar to theiroriginal normal position, whereby the reverse movement of the earriageis stopped. This is effected in the following manner: At that end ofrear sliding bar 39 at which the bearing 51 for screw-rod i9 is formedthere is also formed a chamfer 81, and from the side of pawl-lever 05 apin 82 projects laterally. Between chamfer S1 and pin 82 extends atwo-armed lever 83, pivoted at about its middle to the side bar 3i ofthe carriage. The heavier arm of lever 83 is bent inwardly at its end,as shown at 811:111 Fig. 7, and the lower edge of thisinwardlyprojecting portion is beveled, as indicated. Normally the heavyarm of lever 83 rests by its own weight at the bottom of a U- shapedbracket 85, secured to the side bar 34, and in this condition of themachine the beveled end 8t of lever 83. is just out of contact with thelower edge of chamfer 81, or barely touches the same, while the otherarm of lever 83, which extends over pin 82, is raised out of contactwith the latter. The position of lever 83 in this condition of themachine is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. If, new, the carriage isfed forward by the letters1:)acing mechanism during the ordinaryoperation of the n'iachine, and arriving near the end of a line ofprinting, 7

which is gaged by the position of casting 52, the rear sliding bar 39 ismoved toward the right to raise the rack-bar out of engagement with theteeth of the gear-wheel 11, which at once reverses the carriage, ashereinbefore fully described. The movement of rear sliding bar 39 withrelation to the carriage causes the beveled end of lever 83 to ride upthe incline of the chamfer 81, and the other end of the lever isdepressed to the position indicated in full lines in Fig. 3, hearingupon pin 82. hen the carriage arrives near the end of its reversemovement, which is gaged by the position of pin 79 in one of the holes78 78, the front sliding bar (58 is shifted to the left with relation tothe carriage, and the anti-friction roller 67 at the end of pawl-lever65, riding up the inclined plane 70, raises said lever to the positionindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, whereby the line-feed is effected,as hereinbefore described. Z At the same time the pin 82 raises theforward end of lever 83, which is now in its path,

and thereby depresses the rear end of said the chamfer 81 like a cam,forces the rear ing is produced and the carriage is again fed forward,the anti-friction roller 67 slowly descends the inclined plane 70, andthefront sliding bar 68 is returned to its original position by thereaction of, helical spring 7 3.

g The screw-rod 44:, above referredto as having one end of spring 43bent over it, extends longitudinally through the frame of the carriage,and has right and left hand screwthreads on its opposite ends for the.purpose of carrying and adjusting thepaper-guides 86 '86, which,together with the uprights 87 for holding the paper-roll, will not bedescribed herein, since they form no part of the present invention.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Pat ent 1. In a type-writer, the combination of a carriage, apivoted rack-bar frame mounted upon the same, and a spring tending toraise the rack bar frame, with cam projections upon the latter, and asliding bar having camnotches corresponding to the cam projections,whereby the movement of the sliding bar in one direction will depressthe rack-bar, and the movement of the same in the other direction willallow the rack-bar to return to its raised position, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, in a type-writer, of a reciprocating carriage, afeed-arm actuated from the printing mechanism, gearing, substantially asdescribed, operatively connecting said feed-arm and carriage, and aswitch apparatus, substantially as described, constructed and operatingto disengage said gearing 0n the completion by the carriage of itsforward stroke, and to re-engage the same on the completion by saidcarriage of its return-stroke.

- 3. The combination, in a type-writer, of a reciprocating carriage, anintermittently and forwardly revolving gear actuated from the printingmechanism, a laterally-movable rack on said carriage, and rack-switchingappara tus constructed and operating to disengage said rack from saidgear on the completion by the carriage of its forward stroke, and tore-engage the same on the completion by said carriage of itsreturn-stroke.

4. In a type-writer, the combination of a carriage and apivoted rack-barframe mounted upon the same, with a gear-wheel normally engaging therack-bar for feeding the carriage to produce the letter-spaces, and asliding bar actuated by the movement of the carriage for permitting therack-bar to be disengaged from the said gear-wheel, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a type-writer having automatic letterspacing mechanism, thecombination of a carriage, a spring-barrel for storing power by theletter-spacing movement of the carriage, a spring-actuated pivotedrack-bar frame upon the carriage, and a gear-wheel normally engaging therack -bar for feeding the carriage and for locking the same against therecoil of the spring-barrel, with a sliding bar actuated to move in onedirection for depressing the rack-bar into engagement with the gearwheeland in the other direction for allowing the rack-bar to rise out ofengagement, substantially as described.

6. In a type-writer, the combination of a carriage and a pivotedrack-bar frame mounted upon the. same, a spring-barrel for storingpower,'actuated by the carriage and connected with the same by aflexible cord, with a gear-wheel normally engaging the rack-bar to feedthe carriage, and a sliding bar provided with cam-notches acting uponthe rackbarframe to engage the rack-bar witli the gearwheel, and topermit the same to be disengaged therefrom, substantially as described.

7 In a type-writer having automatic letterand-line-spacing mechanisms,the combination of aspring-barrel for storing power, a pivoted-raclebarframe upon the carriage, and a gear-wheel normally in engagement withthe rack-bar for propelling the carriage and for locking the sameagainst recoil by'the action of the spring-barrel,-with a rear slidingrod for disengaging the rack-bar from the gear-wheel to allow thespring-barrel to reverse the carriage, a front sliding rod for operatingthe line-feeding mechanism, and connections between the latter and therear sliding rod for re-engaging the rack-bar and gearwheel,substantially as described.

8. In a type-writer having automatic letterand-line-spacing mechanisms,the combination of a carriage and a pivoted rack-bar mounted upon thesame, a gear-wheel normally engaging the rack-bar for feeding thecarriage, and a sliding bar, constructed substantially as described, forengaging the rack-, bar and gear-wheel when moved in one direction andfor permitting the same to be disengaged when moved in the otherdirection, with a casting adjustable upon the sliding bar moving againsta fixed stop upon the frame of the machine for actuating the sliding barin one direction, and a lever connecting the line-spacing mechanism withthe sliding rod for moving the same in the other direction,substantially as described.

9. In a type-writer, the combination of a carriage and a pivotedrack-bar frame mounted upon the same, with a gear-wheel normallyengaging the rack-bar for feeding the carriage to produce theletter-spaces, and a notched sliding bar, arranged substantially asdescribed, for permitting the rack-bar to be antomatically disengagedfrom the gear-wheel when the end of a line of writing is reached and foren gaging the same automatically when the carriage has been returned tothe begin ning of a new line, substantially as described.

10. In a type-writer having automatic letter-and-line-spacingmechanisms, the combination, with such mechanisms and a springbarrel forstoring power by the letter-spacing movement and for reversing themovement of the carriage automatically when thefend of a In testimonywhereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of10 two subscribing Witnesses.

JAMES F. MOLAUGHLIN.

\Vitnesses:

FRANK M. MILLER, JULIUS I'IIRSI-IFELD.

